Stephanie Beacham
Stephanie Beacham was born 28 February 1947 in Casablanca, Marocco, but was brought up in Hertfordshire, England. Her mother had suffered chicken pox while pregnant and family doctors belived that was why Stephanie was born with complete deafness in her righ ear and partial deafness in her left. She began some ballet classes at the age of four, training almost daily after school. Sadly, she tried for the Royal Ballet School at age 12 and was promptly refused to attend. At this point, Stephanie got the idea to eventually teach ballet to deaf children. So in 1964, she decided to go study mime in Paris, finding an au pair job. Her previous education had adequately prepared her to speak French and learning mime for her was a logical step to teach body movements to handicaped people. Things didn't work out for the best as Stephanie now admits to not being the most skillful maid for her employers. She came back to England, stopping at Liverpool to visit an actor friend of hers. She stepped into the theater to meet him, but decided to audition for a new play. Reciting a monologue from "Romeo and Juliet", she waw hired on the spot by the acting troupe, staying around for nine months. Returning to London at the end of the season, Stephanie enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, this time staying for the next two years studying acting technique. She began working regularly in plays like "Guys and Dolls", "Three Sisters", and "Harold Pinter" creations, rubbing shoulders with acting legends like Donald Pleasance. Her movie acting debut came in a Michael Winner picture, "The Games". She soon followed with "Tam Lin" (1970), directed by Roddy McDowall and starring screen legend Ava Gardner. After a number of decorous supporting roles Beacham's first starring film role was opposite Marlon Brando in 1972's "The Nightcomers" directed by Michael Winner. However the film was made at the low point of Brando's career and flopped. Beacham found the filming unpleasant as she is deaf in one ear and as a prank Brando would pretend to be deaf on the same side. She appeared nude in the film which earned her a reputation as a screen sex kitten that she played on and was cast as Jessica Van Helsing in Hammer's "Dracula A.D. 1972", alongside Peter Cushing, as well as modelling nude for Playboy. In the late 1990's Graham Norton presented her with a copy of the issue and she said her only regret was the wig. Following the success of Jackie Collins' "The Bitch", which starred the author's elder sister, actress Joan Collins, Beacham's film was re-released in the UK in the late 1970's under the title "Super Bitch" (1973) and regained Beacham attention. Other genre movies include "And Now the Screaming Starts" (1973), "House of Mortal Sin" (1974), "Schizo" (1976) and "Inseminoid" (1981). In the early 1980s, Beacham appeared in the BBC television drama series "Tenko" (1982) and then played the title role in the TV series "Connie" (1985). It was on the strength of her performance in the latter series that Beacham came to the United States in 1985, having been offered the role of Sable Colby in "The Colbys" (1985-1987), a spin-off from the soap opera "Dynasty", which lasted two years. In 1988, she was invited to reprise the role on "Dynasty" (1989). However, Dynasty was beginning to show its age and the show was cancelled a year after Beacham's arrival. After the series, Beacham completely reversed herself and the kind of role she had become known for. Instead of playing another glamorous bitch like Sable Colby, she was cast in the series "Sister Kate" (1989), as a nun taking care of children in an orphanage. The series lasted for one season and was cancelled in 1990. She then returned to Britain to play Mrs. Peacock in an TV game show version of the board game "Cluedo" (1990). In 1993, Beacham signed on to play Dr. Kristin Westphalen in the NBC series "SeaQuest DSV" produced by Steven Spielberg. She made a remarkable role in the high-quality BBC TV series "No Bananas" (1996), while in the period from 1994 to 1998 she made appearances in several episodes of the teenage series "Beverly Hills 90210" playing the role of Dylan McKay's (Luke Perry) mother. In recent years, Stephanie has appeared in the prison drama "Bad Girls" (2003-2005). While maintaining home and career in both London and Los Angeles, Stephanie also continues her work as spokesperson for the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association, serves on the Board of Directors for Free Arts for Abused Children and is associated with the Tinnitus Society of Great Britain. The family means a lot to her and she is very close with her daughters, Phoebe and Chloe, and her grandson Jude. Category:Actor profiles